Duckzila

How does everybody know that Nolan is the second comming of Terry Porter? I'll agree that Felton's play at times has been pretty brutal. He does have talent, but unfortunatley is a little loose with the ball. He is shooting at an all time low clip, I have a feeling at some point that will come up. I don't think he is near as bad as everyone is letting on. That being said I think the Bench needs to be used more, just because of how condensed the schedule is. Nolan, Eliot Williams (especially when crawford is off) and Chris Johnson should probably be seeing a couple more minutes a game just for the health of the players.

Hate mail no, but I do disagree. If USC stays healthy I think its a really good match up. Last years result, a missed field goal at the end of regulation, I think proves that. Both teams bring back a ton of people, so I think both will be improved. I think they split the two games. The winner of the conference championship game will have a chance to go to the Natty with one loss. The thing that would concern me about USC if I was a USC fan is their depth. There scholarship limits start to go into effect this year. If the injury bugs hits, it can really hurt its chances. The other thing to keep in mind about USC is they have a tendeancy to drop one they shouldn't somewhere along the line. ASU did last year. With as weak as the South is, say they get upset by Utah. With Utah missing Oregon and Stanford again it would be a shock to see them manage to oust USC fromt he title game. Just saying I don't think I'm as sold on USC as everybody else is. Could be like Bama of 2010, everybody talked about how good they were but in the end they were still a 3 loss team.

Would they have scored 40 against Bama, no way, but they did put up 27 against LSU. People also forget this Oregon team was pretty young. The other thing to keep in mind too, is they wouldn't need to put up 40 against Bama. For as good as their defense is, their offense is just a pedestrian. Did Bama play against a good offense all year? Was Arkansas the best offense they played all year? They're only non-conference "challenge" was against Penn State whose offense is pretty putrid in its own right. I would have loved to see them play a team that isn't limited to running the ball up the middle like LSU. A matchup with Oregon who is so good at attacking the perimiter would have been interesting. As would a match up with Wisconsin or Stanford who have two of the best O-lines in college football for a strenghth on strength matchup. Plus both of those teams have quaterbacks of a quality the SEC isn't close too. Ok state would have been an interesting matchup as well with them throwing it over the field. Yes Alabama has a lot of talent but were they ever really tested by a good offense?

I watched the first half of that all star game yesterday. That Mickens would be a great tazr type addition. I believe I read somewhere that Javon Williams was quoted as saying that if the Ducks offered he'd accept. I can't find the article for the life me though.

I wouldn't worry to much about the 230. He's 6'7" and if you've seen the kid, he's pretty scrawny. A couple years under Radcliffe and he'll be fine. Jordan has a similar frame and is a stud, despite the fact he has only been playing D for a couple of years.

Because he's a better reciever, and punt returner, Barner may very well be a better prospect than James. Although if James is given the chance he'll suprise people in the NFL with his toughness between the tackles, given the right situation James could be a feature back in the NFL. Barner a heck of a 3rd down back. Either way if Oregon loses both Barner and James that really scares me. Mamba doesn't have the size to tote the rock 15-20 times a game, and we haven't seen enough from Carson to say he'll be able to step in seemlessly. That would be a lot riding on proven players. If the recievers don't develop, I could see Oregon becoming a much more conservative team and relying on their Defense, which has the potential to be one of Oregon's best ever.

2 or 3 first round picks (the article said multiple) is intriguing. I would have been dissapointed if they didn't at least consider it. Lamar and Gerald are in completly different situations. Lamar signed with the the Lakers (I believe for less money) because he loved being a Laker, and wanted to retire their. Gerald Wallace may come to love Portland that way (doubtful, just because most NBA player don't ever get as emotionaly invested in a franche/city as Lamar did) but he hasn't been here long enough to develop those kind of feelings.

I think the rebuilding talk here is a little the sky is falling. I think what it says is they don't want to pay starting small forward money to two people (Batum needs to be extended) right or wrong they think Batum is the future. It hurts the team in the immediate future, but three first round draft picks is pretty unheard of for what amounts to a hustle player. Its something you have to at least look at. They are going after Crawford, which would fill a huge whole in our line up. That thomas pick up was a good one, it adds toughness to the team, and he can knock down a midrange shot. I'd like to see them bring Joel back, just so we'd have 2 enforcers from the bench. And selfishly Joel is my favorite player from the current run.

Outside of maybe Walton, has there ever been a Blazer that has made such an impact on the franchise in such a short period of time? I'm sad we won't be able to see Roy do his thing anymore, but am glad if he had to retire, he retires a blazer.

Could Miller be any more condescending? Tone deaf comments like that almost make me wistful for the Trader Bob days. Mark my words if we cut him, he goes to Phoenix or Dallas, and then tears the Blazers hearts out in a play off series. I'm ok if its just a buisness decision but Miller comming out and essentialy blaming the descion on Roy is transparent and insulting.

So what the Chancelor esentially is saying is that "The Hat" was fired for trying to act in the best interest of the University. Which correct me if I'm wrong is the job of University Presidents. Sounds like somebody got his feeling hurts. As usual only bad things happen when decision are based on ego.

Kelly is right, the young corners actually played pretty well. Defense might win championships, but you can't scheme for a great throw/ and or catch. Saturday it was both column A and B. On one of the touchdowns it look like the ball magically traveled through the defenders hands. This is going to be a scary bunch, as they develop better ball skills, and get stronger making it easy to battle recievers. The corners after all are primarily Freshman and Redshirt freshmen after all. Seems greedy to expect them all to be Cliff Harris minus the mental lapses.

It has been, and always will be the Huskies. The only reason we don't like to see the Beaver's win is we hate to hear their fans run their mouths about how good they are win they beat the sac states of the world ... wait that didn't make sense.

Polk is really, really good. Not as good as LMJ when healthy. Barner has some durability issues as an everydown back. They're are only a handful of schools where Polk wouldn't be the starter. U of O, Bama, and maybe South Carolina before Latimore got hurt. As far as why DT hasn't been as good this year, that's easy, no Jeff Maehl, no DJ Davis. Some might question the Davis comment. But he was reliable, and as about as good of a blocker your going to see out of the wide out slot. With his loss they've really had to have Paulson stay in and block more limiting his ability to go down the field and make plays like he did last year.

Yeah he air mailed a few, but the toss to Paulson was perfect, and those two the sideline throws, one barely in and one barely out, late thrown but absolute darts. With his speed, got to love the upside on this kid. Completion percentage was little lower than you'd like to see, otherwise pretty good numbers for a half of football. B

Aaron, I think you do a very good job of being fair, and bring unique perspective to your coverage to the ducks, and am happy that your covering ducks. Of the people I read I put you just behind Ted Miller and Rob Mosley. I'm glad you were wrong about the score, but it wasn't that far of a stretch. Before Saturday it was hard to get a good feel of just how good Oregon or ASU are. Keep up the good work. I do agree with the above comment though, you do come up as a little defensive. Dumb fans are going to be dumb fans.

I wish the answer was Steinbrenner or Jones they both have championships. But its probably more Snyder trending towards Davis. Love his money and enthusiasim for basketball, wish he would hire someone smart and stay out of the way though. Really the day he leaves is the day I start worring about Portland getting Soniced.

G.O. must go. Ok that's a little simple. If we could pick him up for a mil or 2 a year then you roll the dice, but a qualifying offer ends up almost being 9 mil. I understand the fact that Portland is a small market and has a hard time getting quality big time free agents. We already rolled the dice on one set of ailing knees and came up craps. I might mention those ailing knees were a much safer bet. Doing it again, wreaks of a gambler chasing a beat. I like Greg, a wish him the best but that is a gamble we can not afford to make. Good luck Greg, unless of course you end up with the Lakers in which case I'll try not to boo.